Dollar Tree to reform children’s products testing nationwide, pay nearly $200K, after AG Ferguson investigation reveals toxic products

Investigation found school supplies with more than 4 times legal limit of lead, 4 times legal limit of cadmium

SEATTLE - Attorney General Bob Ferguson today announced a legally binding resolution requiring Dollar Tree to pay $190,000 and more thoroughly test children's products. The resolution follows an Attorney General investigation finding school supplies sold by the national retailer had illegal levels of toxic heavy metals lead and cadmium.

To avoid a lawsuit, Greenbrier International, doing business as Dollar Tree, entered into a nationwide, legally binding agreement in King County Superior Court. The agreement requires the company to ensure that the laboratories it uses outside the U.S. follow testing methods for lead and cadmium that are audited and verified through independent experts.

"When I buy products for my kids, I expect them to be safe from toxic metals," said Ferguson. "Companies that sell products to children must ensure they are safe. If they don't, they will hear from my office."

Testing by the Washington state Department of Ecology revealed that numerous children's bracelets and pencil pouches sold by Dollar Tree stores in Washington state contained illegal levels of lead and cadmium. The department tested bracelets and pencil pouches sold at Dollar Tree stores in 2018, 2019 and 2021. Its independent testing showed the pencil pouches in some cases contained more than four times the state and federal limit for lead or four times the state limit for cadmium. The department turned over the test results to the Attorney General's Office for investigation and enforcement under the state Consumer Protection Act as well as the federal Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act.

When the Attorney General's Office informed Dollar Tree of the investigation's findings, Dollar Tree provided documentation from laboratories outside of the U.S. showing that the toxic metals, like lead and cadmium, fell within permissible levels. The Attorney General's Office presented the company with findings from an expert, independent review of these tests that showed they contained errors or missing information. Dollar Tree cooperated with the investigation and removed the flagged products from its stores.

Agreement requires testing reforms

The legally binding agreement requires Greenbrier to implement specific reforms and enhance its policies for testing children's products in laboratories outside of the U.S. For the next five years, it will:

• Use X-ray fluorescencetechnology to screen samples of children's products imported from outside of the U.S.
• Rotate the testing of children's products through different third-party laboratories on an annual basis
• Require laboratories it uses to provide written procedures for how they will test for lead and cadmium
• Require a third-party expert and laboratory in the U.S. to audit its overseas testing of children's products using federal environmental and consumer protection standards

In addition, Greenbrier will pay the Attorney General's Office $190,000, which will be used for future enforcement of the Consumer Protection Act and environmental protection efforts, as well as attorney costs and fees.

Both state and federal laws prohibit the sale or distribution of children's products that contain lead or cadmium above certain levels. Lead can cause a variety of neurological problems in children, and in large amounts, can lead to organ failure and death. The federal Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act prohibits levels of lead exceeding 100 parts-per-million (ppm) in any accessible component of a children's product or cannot exceed 90 ppm under state law. Levels of cadmium, a metal known to cause cancer, cannot exceed 40 ppm under state law or 75 ppm under federal law.

Assistant Attorneys General Junine So and Jonathan Munro-Hernandez of the Environmental Protection Division and Assistant Attorney General Susana Croke and Senior Counsel Tad O'Neill of the Consumer Protection Division handled the case for Washington. Senior Investigator Eric Peters, Paralegals Virginia Castro, Joseph Drouin, Matt Hehemann and Heather Zamudio, and Legal Assistants Jesse Curry and Luis Oida also assisted with the investigation.

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